E-scooter injuries surge sharply

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found e-scooter hospitalisations more than tripled from one thousand two hundred ninety-one in two thousand nineteen to four thousand eighty-nine in two thousand twenty-five.

Teenage boys hit hardest

Boys aged twelve to fifteen saw a fifteen-fold increase in hospitalisations from e-scooter falls. They were four times more likely than girls to end up in hospital from an e-scooter fall.

Deaths also rising

E-scooter-related deaths increased from seven in two thousand fourteen to twenty in two thousand twenty-five, though the proportion of deaths remained stable.

Unsafe devices blamed

Richard J Buning from University of Queensland research said over-powered e-bikes were a chief concern. The federal government introduced stronger e-bike import standards last year, similar to European Union rules.

“It's these unsafe, uncompliant, illegal devices that are creating much of the problems of people riding really fast on high-powered devices.”

Queensland leads regulation

Queensland requires e-bike riders to be sixteen or older with a valid driver's licence. From March two thousand twenty-seven, all e-bikes in the state must have a compliance label to ride in public.

School safety education needed

Dr Buning suggested targeted initiatives to educate younger riders on safe riding. He said getting into schools to teach safe device riding could remove most problematic behaviour among young people.

“Ideally we can get into schools and teach them how to ride a device safely. That's probably going to take out the majority of the problematic behaviour.”